Formula 1 arrives in Germany just five days after the nation’s victory in the FIFA World Cup final against Argentina, meaning that spirits will be very high at Hockenheim among the crowd and local paddock members; even Mercedes has rebranded its motorhome in homage to the nation’s soccer heroes.

Do they really need more reasons to celebrate, though? After all, a German driver leads the world championship, a German team leads the constructors’ championship, and another German has won the past four titles. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel have certainly made it a good time for the home fans at Hockenheim.

It has been quite a week or so for Rosberg, whose championship lead now stands at a paltry four points following his DNF at Silverstone. He got married to long-term partner Vivien Sibold at a small ceremony in Monaco, Germany then won the World Cup, and yesterday, Mercedes confirmed that he had inked a new long-term contract. To quote the man himself: “Just need to win my home GP now!” – it would certainly be the perfect way to cap off quite a week.

2014 German Grand Prix – Talking Points

Hamilton, Rosberg stand on the brink of history

Both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg stand on the brink of history this weekend as they look to claim Mercedes’ first home victory since 1954. Five-time F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio won the race at the Nurburgring that day, but since returning to the sport in 2010, the Silver Arrows have stood little chance of winning on home soil. This time around, Mercedes stands little chance of losing; it’s just a matter of which driver will take the race win.

Vettel hopes to fight back at home

After a tough start to the year that has yielded just two podium finishes, defending world champion Sebastian Vettel will be hoping to improve at his home race. His victory at the Nurburgring last year was his first at the German Grand Prix, and an important milestone for him. This time around, a podium finish would be a welcome result for the Heppenheim native, but cheery teammate Daniel Ricciardo is proving to be more than a match at Red Bull.

What the FRIC?

There have been far too many FRIC puns made this week (most made by this writer) following the failure of the teams to postpone the ban of the system. The front-rear interconnected suspension device has been deemed to be in breach of the regulations by the FIA, but its ban would have been postponed if all eleven teams had been in favor. Unsurprisingly, they weren’t, so the systems will have to be removed for this weekend’s race. It will be interesting to see who gains and who doesn’t from its removal.

Caterham continues to shift under Albers

There have been yet more changes at Caterham over the past few days with staff cuts, reshuffles and signings, all making this another uneasy weekend for the team. Any new setup takes time to adjust and adapt, but with Sauber and Marussia both in good form, time is of the essence for the team. On a side note, we wish the best of luck to American driver Alexander Rossi, who will make his debut for Campos in GP2 this weekend after leaving Caterham Racing.

A final hurrah for Hockenheim?

Paddock chatter suggests that this will be the last German Grand Prix at Hockenheim until at least 2020 thanks to the Nurburgring’s new five-year deal. The two circuits have shared the hosting rights over the past six years. Whilst Hockenheim is a shadow of its former self, it still remains a fine racing facility that will be missed on the calendar should it fall off.

The second season of “Dinner with Racers,” presented by Continental Tire, drops its first batch of episodes today.

The 28-episode season follows the first 28 episodes released last year. This year, podcast hosts and sports car veterans Sean Heckman and Ryan Eversley saddled up in a Honda Odyssey minivan for the cross-country tour, while riding on Continental Tires.

There’s some great guests and details. Here’s the full breakdown, plus a video, below:

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One year after the successful debut of the motorsport podcast series “Dinner with Racers,” the antics of Ryan Eversley and Sean Heckman have returned for the binge release of “Season Two,” launching today. Following their 2015 debut that featured a month-long road trip recording 26 conversations “over dinner” with some of the most interesting characters in motorsports, the duo will launch another 28 recordings for their 2016 adventure. The second season will be released in two waves, with “Release One” launching the first 14 recordings immediately, and “Release Two” featuring an additional 14 recordings slated to release on December 16. All episodes can be found at www.dinnerwithracers.com or via iTunes.

Traveling for 40 days across 29 states, and covering 12,000 miles in 2016, the trip was made possible in part by the Honda Odyssey that was lent to the team by American Honda Motor Co., Inc, and most importantly thanks to a continuing title partnership with Continental Tire, who not only provided Cross Contact LX20 tires for the trip but covered the team’s expenses, as well as every meal.

Continuing the same theme from the debut season, #DWR2 follows a nearly identical format. A factory racing driver for Acura in the World Challenge series, Ryan Eversley makes up half of the hosting lineup, with motorsport marketing / creative content veteran Sean Heckman completing the duo. Using their unique blend of humor, insight, experience, as well as genuine love of the sport, Eversley and Heckman pick up right where they left off in Season One, exposing some of the most unique and entertaining stories from their variety of guests.

Meeting up with 28 different characters “over dinner,” listeners will exposed to a variety of personalities, everything from NASCAR and IndyCar star drivers, to some of the most respected engineers and mechanics, journalists, and broadcasters in the business. Stories cover everything from what it was like to be the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 and then Daytona 500, to giving up a contract worth over $2mil just to be a “good guy,” to turning a satiric twitter account in to a full-time job, as well as enjoying life after nearly three decades in prison. Topics include everything from a transgender pig, to being given dead cat whiskers as a good luck charm, to having guns pulled in the middle of a race shop, and even buying a race track in the hopes of laundering money through it.

For Ryan Eversley, a chance to continue the series was a welcome one.

“I know it’s a cliché, but It truly is such an honor and a privilege to be able to do this,” stated Eversley. “Both Sean and I were truly blown away by the fan support from Season One, it’s honestly something we weren’t expecting. It really meant a lot to get so many nice comments, and that kept us very motivated for Season Two. I think our genuine love of the sport translates when people listen, because we really enjoy hearing the real back stories in what makes everyone so unique. This season did not disappoint us at all. This show lives and dies by its guests, and we couldn’t have been luckier to have such a great group who were not only engaging and interesting, but also incredibly gracious with their time. It’s an absolute blast doing this, and we really appreciate Continental for continuing their support, as well as Honda for giving us an incredibly comfortable car for such a long trip.”

For Sean Heckman, a similar sentiment is shared.

“What he said,” stated Heckman.

Additionally, the series will continue to support less exposed musical acts, with each episode promoting a variety of musicians and bands at the close of every episode.

Ahead of the event in Las Vegas, each of the 10 of the sim racers that have qualified have been paired up with a Formula E team.

“I’d like to officially welcome the sim racers who qualified through the Road to Vegas Challenge to participate in the inaugural Visa Vegas eRace,” Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag said.

“I’ve been following the progress of the sim racers throughout the qualification process, and I can’t wait to see them on the same track as the rest of the Formula E grid.

“Accessibility and fan engagement are two of the key cornerstones of Formula E, and what better way to promote this than getting the sim racers to compete in the same colours as their Formula E counterparts – it will be fascinating to see who comes out on top.”